Hello and welcome to Cats Week. I'm Annaliese Poorman. The Monroe County Council met on October 14th
to finalize and adopt the county's 2026 budget after months of hearings. The final budget sits
at approximately $131 million and includes a 3% cost of living raise for county employees and elected
officials. Council members noted that at the end of the budget process, the county avoided layoffs across
all departments.
County Auditor Breon Gregory told counselors the county's 2026 budget no longer shows a deficit after
months of work to close an eight million dollar shortfall.
in the budget documents have been adjusted to account for changes made at the most recent meeting and
anticipated bond revenue. Please note that some of the budgeted expenses for 26 were moved to 25, resulting
in an inflated 2025 budget and deflated 2026 budget. As a result of the changes, our 2026 budget no
longer reflects a deficit. Despite not having a deficit budget in 2026, we recommend that cash reserves
are closely monitored as additional appropriations are requested.
in 2026 and beyond. Looking specifically at the levy fund deficits, we have a much smaller surplus of
$401,240. The cash balances must be closely monitored in these funds specifically moving forward. So
just to give you the simple calculation numbers, we have now a surplus, a simplified 2026 surplus amount
of $2,364,060.
I want to applaud you for your work on this. It's very exciting that we've gotten to this point.
Thank you. Thank you. County Councilor Marty Hawk warned that the county should remain fiscally responsible
despite the expected surplus. She said that just because there will be a surplus does not mean the county
is, quote, sitting here with lots of cash, end quote. Could you go back and say we have a surplus of
what? How much? $2,364,060.
And is that just in the frozen levy? No, that's the simple calculation, which includes everything. Now,
the number I gave you for the for the levy, and that's not just the frozen levy, it's all of the levy
funds is four hundred and one thousand two hundred and forty dollars. But I think that that sometimes
could give the wrong impression because, you know, you might have a CUME fund that has a higher
balance to carry forward, surplus. That's not unusual to see that. So we wouldn't want to give the wrong
impression that we're sitting here with lots of cash because we can't move those dollars around. So
it's just a thought.
Later in the meeting, Councilmember David Henry said that the path to finalize the budget was a difficult
one, but he appreciated the county's efforts to avoid layoffs while balancing the budget. However, he
also expressed that the county needs to stay careful with spending over the next year.
I mean, in a time of downturn, our workforce still has jobs on January 1st. We are not riffing people
as we've seen in other county governments. We've been able to provide our benefits still under this
budget. We've been able to get to a place where as long as we protect what we've done here through hiring
freezes and scrutinizing over time and thinking through our PAC process, we'll maintain that.
budget moving through. But what's at risk for us moving forward is the death by a thousand cuts and
the requests that come once we've tried to hold the line and what potentially waits for us next October.
And my fear about next October is real. I brought that up during the process and I had some ideas about
how to do that now. And it really comes from a place of being, I still think, the only person up here
that has been a county employee. And so when I look at county employees and talk to them as one that
used to be one 18 years ago,
And had a department head that told me my job was only as good as my grants and actually helped me find
my next job while I was working for him. And that our benefits back then were not as great as they are
now. And maybe to get a little too personal to be accounting employee with a master's degree in one
hand and taking my check to a payday lender and the other to make rent.
I am acutely aware of how some of our county employees feel and are trying to survive in our economy
here. I think we did a good job maintaining and holding that line here, but I am incredibly fearful
about what next year brings if we don't hold to being very careful with our dollars to understand that
as the circuit breakers kick in on the taxes that we will collect next year that might actually eat
into the MLGQ that we expect, and that it's going to get harder and harder to hold the line here in
our county government
to fund these services. But the good news is we still have the programs. Potholes are still going to
get filled. The doors will still be open. That's a lot to be proud of in this budget. County Councilmember
Pete Iverson praised the collaborative nature of the budget process, saying the final budget reflects
the county's values. I am going to be supporting this budget because it benefits residents of Monroe County,
and are over 750 county employees. Now, while some have described to this year's processes lacking control,
I respectfully disagree. What we've seen here is not incompetence, but humility, collaboration, honest
acknowledgement of our failures, and strident efforts to adapt. We move forward not with misplaced certainty,
but with curiosity and care,
determined to fulfill the trust residents have placed in us. And as a public servant, I say with humility
that this budget is not perfect. We asked our department heads to do much more with much fewer resources.
Then in addition, we made significant cuts that were painful. And our actions slowed the growth of the
budget from the previous year from 10% to 5%
And that's a lot of change to process in just one year. But these tough choices didn't happen in a vacuum.
They were necessitated by circumstances largely beyond our control. And I think it bears to understand
this budget. We have to first understand the extraordinary challenges we faced in getting to tonight's vote.
County Council Member Trent Deckard called the budget process the hardest he's ever experienced. However,
he praised all parties involved, stating that the budget keeps county jobs and services intact. Council
President Jennifer Crossley echoed his sentiments and said that the budget lays the foundation for the
county's financial future.
This is the groundwork for what we need to do for the next couple of years. So I think what we have
done in terms of our foundation of having those hard conversations, pushing back on departments,
maybe so, maybe we can push back a little bit more on some folks, but this is where we are.
But this is, again, as we talked about in our last week's special session, that this is what we have
to look forward to for 26 and beyond. The county council passed the budget by
vote of six to one and we'll meet again on October 28th. The Monroe County Women's Commission met on
October 15th. The meeting began with Commission member Julie Harris-D, updating the Commission on Healthcare
Services for Women in Monroe County. Harris-D outlined the current laws that are directly impacting
women's access to healthcare in Indiana, including reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care.
This is like a giant topic for Indiana and for Monroe County. And it's also already pretty difficult
to come up with anything close to accurate statistics about what's happening. So understanding any statistics
around this topic of reproductive health care in Monroe County has to start with knowing about the laws
in Indiana, because reproductive health care is limited and severely regulated for women and marginalized
genders in our state.
This includes statewide regulations such as the abortion ban that's been in effect in Indiana since
2023 and bans on gender transition procedures, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors,
children under 18 in Indiana since 2024. So none of this changes the fact that pregnant people still
need abortions or children under 18 still need gender affirming care, but it does significantly impact
reproductive health care for all women in marginalized
in the state, including Monroe County. Heresty also shared information from the Commonwealth Fund, which
ranked Indiana number 29 out of 50 for women's health and reproductive care and found their performance
rated, quote, worse than average, end quote. Heresty noted that the ranking was sourced from 2022 and
2024 and before the state abortion ban took effect. Heresty went on to describe the different women's
health resources currently
available locally including the Monroe County Public Library and the store gather. The Monroe County
Public Library currently does offer reproductive rights libguide sort of information that is sharing
sharing other options that are available in addition to that we also in Bloomington have all options
pregnancy resource center
community birth center. Those are those are places that are also offering pregnancy and maternity care,
reproductive health care. And then there's the we've we've talked about this at previous meetings that
the gather store on the square has a free contraceptives vending machine through a program from the
Indiana task force. And it was HAP that also helped put that
in place. So you can use that vending machine. You can also shop and gather and make a donation to stock
the vending machine. So that is something else that is out there. So those aren't really statistics,
but it felt like that was a good place to kind of go with this for what is available.
Heresty went on to describe the family leave policies in place for the City of Bloomington as well as
local school districts. For the City, employees receive up to six weeks of paid maternal leave. MCCSE
employees currently get eight weeks paid leave, while RBBSC employees receive five. Both school corporations
offer unpaid leave for up to a year. Heresty suggested that perhaps the Women's Commission could relay
information to the
commissioners and suggest amendments to their policies.
county commissioners regarding information that Monroe County government is providing on its website,
in addition to potential policy inequities that should be considered between school corporations and
Monroe County government employees, otherwise, so.
Next, commission member Maria Douglas relayed information on an upcoming American Civil Liberties Union
Town Hall, happening on October 23rd at 6 p.m. at the Downtown Monroe County Public Library Auditorium.
Stunningly stunning information. And I'm curious about, you know, it would be fantastic if the Women's
Commission could be an advocate
you know, an advocacy organization, you know, having that be part. Because, I mean, we could go to the
school board, we could, you know, schedule meetings, you know, with the superintendent, with the school
board, with the school board president, you know, things like that. This is a definitely like issue
cut. It's an issue cut, you know, and so a winnable, it's definitely a winnable thing, situation. And so,
I'm curious about how, but I assume that we would have to get permission from the commissioners to take
on this work. So I don't know what that entails. Douglas also asked that citizens who receive a letter
from County Clerk Nicole Brown asking for proof of citizenship in order to register to vote should contact
her at maria at hoosierap.org.
My organization Hoosier Asian American Power can help navigate that process to ensure that you're registered.
We are also very interested in supporting individuals who may be affected by House Enrolled Act 1264, which has
I'll say it spawned these letters. Finally, Douglas relayed information about the Monroe County Childhood
Conditions Summit coming up at the Convention Center. The seminar will take place on November 13th from
8 to 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The Monroe County Women's Commission will meet again
on November 20th.
The Bloomington Commission on Sustainability met on October 14th. Commission member Alex York spoke
about working with a class from Indiana University to explore the feasibility of a sustainable energy
utility for Bloomington. I talked about this with some people. It was suggested to me that an O'Neill
Capstone course would be a good way to kind of explore the feasibility of the Bloomington community
undertaking a similar action.
I reached out to professors I knew from O'Neill because I have two masters from there and a capstone
course has been formed and there's a memo kind of describing all of this. There's a description of the
classwork attached as well. And yeah, we are looking for the commission's blessing to undergo this work
where a capstone course is just looking at
You know, from a wide variety of angles, how practical it is for women to do this. We're also very open
to feedback on angles of research. We have a bunch of research questions that we came up with. York
went on to highlight that this class would not cost any money for the city and would serve as a source
of free consulting. The commission voted in favor of the project unanimously.
Next, Chairman Justin Vassel brought up the first reading of a resolution to add the word resilience
to the meeting name Commission on Sustainability. Commissioner and author of the resolution, Jamie Scholl,
clarified the reasoning behind the proposed name change.
sending this out and seeing our political climate and being aware of what is being said and how that's
affecting many of us, if not all of us, some of us in stronger ways than the other, that adding the
word resilience when, you know, it's becoming so politicized. If I'm seeing Joel Salaton talking about
more about resilience, and that's leaning one way,
compared to sustainability, which is leaning another in what we are experiencing now to add resilience,
even though it's a part of sustainability, I think will be help us to remain relevant in this group,
this commission remain relevant in no matter in how things may change in the future.
and we're in quite volatile times, and I just think this is a good move. I know Dave has, he's a founder,
so I wanted him as part of this as well. The Commission on Sustainability will meet again on November
11th. The Monroe County Public Library Board of Trustees met on Wednesday, October 15th. The meeting
began with Library Director Greer Carson discussing the director's monthly report.
but the largest and longest standing book vendor for libraries, Baker and Taylor, is Closing Shop. We've
been kind of following this for better half of this year. It has a huge impact on us in terms of it
being our primary vendor for selecting print materials. We've anticipated something like this for a
while as have all other public libraries we're aware of.
We shifted our ordering plans a while back because of the Baker and Taylor buyout situation when the
buyout fell through last month we were already in a situation with Ingram who is a competitor Baker
and Taylor's and of course we use Amazon for all kinds of
one-off purchases. So we've already been adjusting our selecting and our ordering process. But Baker
and Taylor going down is a big moment in the world of public libraries. So it's worth acknowledging
that just to honor the history of that company. Also for MCPL, it has caused a few hiccups for us in
terms of acquisition rates, the impact on collection development workflows. And as the report indicates,
we've taken this opportunity, this brief lull
in acquisition to focus on some other cataloging and maintenance projects. And we'll continue to do
that until the orders start to come in. We do expect to get all of our back ordered items, if not by
the end of the year, certainly next year if we switch them over to Ingram. So that's kind of what's
been going on with Baker and Taylor. And farewell to the company that began and
1818, I think, so. Carson then took a moment to give Cats a shout out in the meeting for all the recent
work that they've done. Hats off to Cats. In September, they did a tremendous amount of work covering
54 government meetings, 21 new local events, and Lotus on top of everything. So very impressive. Thank
you all and Cats.
Next, the board approved the resolution to adopt the 2026 library budget. Director of Finance,
Gary Letellier, spoke on the resolution. Be it resolved by the MCPL Board of Trustees that the expenses
of Monroe County Public Library for the year ending December 31, 2026, the sums herein specified are hereby
appropriated and ordered set apart out of the several funds here in named and for the purposes here
in specified, subject to the laws governing the same. Such sums here in appropriated shall be held to
include all expenditures authorized to be made
during the year unless otherwise expressly stipulated and provided for by law. In addition, for the
purposes of raising revenue to meet the necessary expenses of Monroe County Public Library, the property
tax levies and property tax rates are herein specified, are included herein.
Form 4B for all funds must be completed and submitted in the manner prescribed by the Department of
Local Government Finance. This resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage
and approval by the MCPL Board of Trustees. The MCPL Board of Trustees will meet again on November 19th.
The Monroe County Capital Improvement Board met on October 15th. The project manager for Weddle Brothers,
Andrew Sherry, started off with an update on the construction at the Convention Center site. Sherry
said crews have completed ground improvements and that foundation work is still in progress. Upcoming
activities again, structural steel, so material will start arriving near the end of October. In November,
we will start seeing structural steel being set.
On this picture on the left side of the picture, that'd be the east side of the project. That's where
we're going to start a sequence one, kind of wrap the register lot area, and then work our way out to
the west. Underground detention system. So again, the stormwater, we're going to start getting semi
loads of five foot pipe tomorrow. That work we're hoping to start on Monday, Tuesday. So a lot of excavations
taking place down there.
And then again, our underground rough in with mechanical, electrical and plumbing. We've had a lot of
coordination to see what we can set, what our cranes will reach, what protection we need for that, and
then how we can start to come into these winter months and start pouring side on grade and really start
to button things up. So.
The CIB then heard an update on the proposed convention center hotel from the Bloomington Director of
Economic and Sustainable Development, Jane Coopersmith. She said negotiations with hotel developer Dora
Hospitality are still ongoing. As you all know, the CIB selected a hotel developer about this time last
year and the city is engaged in
via the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission in those negotiations. And the adults are still talking
is how I would summarize it. The lawyers are negotiating terms. I'll be meeting with Mr. Dora on Friday
to discuss some potential details of the project, but we remain committed to moving through negotiations
as does the Dora and Lauterbeck team. So nothing major to report at this time. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Jane.
CIB President John Weickart asked for a 60-day timeline to hash out basic negotiations with Dora Hospitality,
such as design and construction phases. What I am asking now, and I'm going to ask the Board to endorse,
is that we notify the City of Bloomington and the RDC and Dora, the hotel developer, of our requirement
that the CIB receive a formal joint agreement
upon report from the city and Dora with a path forward including timelines for design and construction
phases and a time schedule for development of the hotel and that we received that report from them by
no later than our December 17th regular meeting. So basically a 60-day timeline for us to receive much
more specific information and to signal to us
that we are actually moving forward and that we can expect forward movement and we can expect design
and construction to actually take place. If the two parties are not prepared to make this report by
the December CIB regular meeting, the CIB will consider the options available to it to fulfill
its responsibility to select a host hotel, including reissuing the RFP for a hotel developer. And I
will simply add to that that
both the county ordinance that created this body and the interlocal agreement between the four governmental
parties working together with us to move this project forward. The CIB has the responsibility to select
a hotelier for this project and to move forward successfully to having a host hotel. And we need this
information in order to fulfill that responsibility.
The CIB passed the 60-day deadline by a unanimous vote. The next meeting of the Monroe County Capital
Improvement Board will take place on November 19th. And that is all for Cats Week. Thank you for joining
us. For Cats and WFHB, I'm Annalise Poorman.